By P.C. Staff
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics logo had to be removed after recent complaints of it being plagiarized work. The Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee has vehemently defended the logo and its designer, Kenjiro Sano. The initial accusations came from Belgian designer Olivier Debie, who designed a logo for the Theatre de Liege, which looked utterly similar to Japan’s design.
According to Sano, he never saw the theatre’s logo — the red circle of Japan’s design was meant to symbolize the Japanese flag.
Tokyo Organizing Committee Head Toshio Muto announced on Sept. 1 that the logo was removed by Sano. “Using the logo that is not supported by the public is not quite suitable (for the success of the Olympics).” While a new logo is being designed, the Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee will be using a logo from a previous bid.
Sano posted an apology on his website, explaining that he “never copied or plagiarized” the 2020 Olympics logo. He also stated that he “failed to properly handle jobs other than the logo.”
Sano’s admission comes on the heels of previous accusations of plagiarism. His blueprint for an earlier version of the Tokyo Olympics logo was also called into question, as it looked similar to work done by a German typographer.
